Richard Morgan (26 Jan 1930 - 12 Jan 2015)

This morning, I woke up to follow my normal workday routine. 

As I staggered thru the dining room to iron a shirt, I glanced out the windows to check the weather.  It was blustery.  We got a lot of rain last night, but all the clouds were being blown out to the ocean by bursting gusts of wind.  Each one of them violently tickled the chimes my Uncle Richard made for me.  They are still hanging from a branch of my grapefruit tree where he hung them several years ago.  He had come over to the house while I was away at work and just hung them there to see how long it would take me to notice them.

He would do things like that from time to time.  Sometimes, he'd tune-up my lawn mower.  Other times, he'd drop off a book or a video or newspaper clipping.  And, I'd stumble across it whenever I stumbled across it.

There have been fewer things to stumble across lately as he battled cancer.

After ironing my shirt, I reached into the dryer for my work pants only to discover they were still a little damp.  So, I opened the overhead cabinet to get some fabric softener and give the pants one more spin.  I smiled as I caught a glimpse of an heirloom pocket watch Richard gave me when he and Aunt Lois downsized.  It had belonged to his great-grandfather (my great-great-great-grandfather), a Civil War veteran who used it in his subsequent career as a railroad conductor.  You can still see the spots on the side of the watch where Grandpa Blakesley's fingers wore away the gold plate as they grasped it to check the trains agains the time tables.

The watch hangs in a neat little display case, but hasn't worked in years.  It's one of those things I have promised myself I will fix "one of these days."

As I waited for the pants to tumble dry, I remembered it was trash collection day in my neighborhood and I had just enough time to push my can out to the curb before the garbage truck came rumbling down my street.  There wasn't much in it, but there's no use letting it sit there til it filled-up. 

Stepping out the utility door, I noticed for the first time how foggy it was.  I supposed it would soon burn off or be blown away by the wind along with the higher clouds.

Resting against the wall beside the can were two folding chairs Uncle Richard made me.  He hand wove them in red and black, the colors of one of my alma maters.  (Or, is that almas mater?  Latin has always been like Greek to me!)  And, he had even managed to weave a double-T into the design (for Texas Tech).  One of the chairs is just a plain folding chair but the other is a rocker, my favorite. 

In passing, I thought how much I wish I could stay home today and rock in that chair under my grapefruit tree and watch the wind blow all the clouds and fog away.

But, I have work to do.

Just before I left the house to begin my commute, I decided I would quickly check my facebook page and was again peppered with little reminders of Richard. 

People were posting pictures of him here and there.

I got a sick feeling in my stomach as it dawned on me just why that was.